


The Affliction of Perception

by jessieflower



Series: A Trail of Exes [2]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: M/M, POV Forrest Long, POV Third Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 22:55:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29891823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessieflower/pseuds/jessieflower
Summary: Forrest has promised himself to stick to his standards that must be followed in all relationships. Alex Manes has a tendency to break these rules. It’s easy to notice the broken rules and even easier to excuse them.
Relationships: Forrest Long & Alex Manes, Forrest Long/Alex Manes, Michael Guerin & Alex Manes, Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Series: A Trail of Exes [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1983278
Comments: 1
Kudos: 30





	The Affliction of Perception

**Author's Note:**

> Although I’m having this as a sort of companion to “The Affliction of Knowledge” which was made after the S1 finale, this is working off of current canon - not the fanon of the first fic

Everyone has standards they expect people to meet when they want to enter a relationship with that person. Not everyone may have written them out in Angsty Emo Journal #6 during their junior year of college after a particularly awful relationship but everyone has them. Forrest knows he’s not special in that way.

Alex Manes is the current person who has the challenge of meeting the criteria without knowing what he’s striving for. Walking away from Alex the night of their first date was well within what Forrest’s standards called for. 

#1. Never date someone who isn’t out enough to kiss you in public. 

It’s underlined in red ink, though the rules are written in black, because younger Forrest let this rule slide far too much in the past. And, maybe it wasn’t a particularly fair rule and much more of a complicated subject in terms of queer relationships but he stuck by this rule with Alex and for that he was proud of himself because Alex was clever and hot and had this great sense of humor. Walking away wasn’t something he really wanted to do. It was just something that was needed, then Alex rose to his challenge. 

Making out in front of his brother in the middle of a bar where people had just had all eyes on him? That definitely made up for a paintball kiss where maybe one or two people might have noticed in-between shooting paint at each other. 

It showed that when Alex wanted something he really was willing to meet people in the middle. And although Forrest knew there was no way that song was about him in any way, he told himself that this was what Alex was looking for. Someone he could meet in the middle. The ex who the song was about hadn’t risen to the challenge, but Forrest gladly would.

* * *

Alex Manes might be best described like an onion. His life had been incredibly complicated and there were lots of layers to just about every aspect of his life. They were all tied together, one layer informing the next. And if you peeled too much too quickly there were bound to be tears. 

Being complicated and having past trauma had never been a red flag for Forrest though he knew plenty of people who got out of doge real fast when something like that was uncovered. But he had an understanding of what Roswell was like for people like Alex and after taking a peek at some of Wyatt’s yearbooks, he knew Alex at one time had no qualms about being himself. The best Forrest could assume was that something traumatic must have shoved him back into the closet.

He still doesn’t know what that event was but Forrest can only imagine that information is about 20 layers deeper than where he currently is in their relationship. 

Right now they’re more focused on whether July 4th is too soon for Alex to meet Forrest’s immediate family.

“You haven’t been home in months,” Alex pointed out. “I’m not sure you want to be responsible for keeping me entertained. Plus, everyone always stares at me expecting me to have PTSD from fireworks and it usually makes me cranky. You don’t want a cranky boyfriend there.”

“We’ll leave before the fireworks,” Forrest was immediately willing to compromise. “My sister is dying to meet you. And when I say dying I mean that she might actually stab me if I don’t bring you. Please come to protect me, big scary Airman.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “Hanna will not stab you.”

“As long as you’re happy with that on your conscien-“ He was cut off when Alex moved forward to kiss him. 

“Soon," he promised. “Maybe Halloween?”

“I get to pick the couple’s costume with minimal arguments?”

Alex smiled. “At least you know there will be something of an argument.” He slid his hands on either side of Forrest’s face and deepened the kiss, distracting them both from their argument and the compromise that followed.

While not wanting to go to the family gathering is technically a breaking of one of the dating rules - Forrest also believes that Alex deserves the exception in this case. His thinking for this rule had always been that if your romantic partner wasn’t excited meet your family, they’re not really in it for the long run.

It’s with the utmost confidence that Forrest believes that Alex’s concern is likely more to do with Alex’s own family than Forrest’s. Although he hasn’t yet gotten all the specifics of Alex’s upbringing, he knows there is some family trauma there. Forrest finds it to be a reasonable assumption to think that Alex just doesn’t want to subject himself to another family that might bring him trauma. And that seems understandable. 

Plus, in the scheme of things Halloween wasn’t that far off.

* * *

Phones are typically a complicated part of all modern relationships. Even if those relationships are platonic. Forrest has always noticed when a friend is more interested in a group chat than the one time you’ve figured out the only day in the next six months your calendars line up.

Alex didn’t actually have an issue with putting his phone face down during dinner. He didn’t have a problem with putting his phone on silent when they were watching a movie. Which meant that Alex didn’t break rule #8 in terms of how it was written. Alex knows how to make Forrest feel like he’s the focus when they’re together. 

The problem the way in which Alex went back to his phone again that concerned Forrest. It was like Alex had this constant feeling that some emergency may have occurred while he was ignoring his phone. Then there were the times that he didn’t put his phone face down. When they were at the farmer’s market or doing something that was a bit more casual… Alex could be in the middle of telling him a story that Alex had seemed invested in but then a text interrupted him from ever finishing because he had to go.

Maybe these instances wouldn’t have been worrying in of themselves if they were for work. Forrest didn’t expect that the air force would take kindly to excuses about boyfriends. But, unfortunately, they all seemed to connect to one person. That’s not to say that every text or call that interrupted them was actually Michael Guerin, but it always seemed to lead back to Michael in some way.

Forrest prided himself on not being jealous of other queer men for being friends with his currently boyfriend. However, even the first day he’d met Alex he could tell that there was something between him and Michael. He’d gotten hints that they had some kind of more-than-friends connection. He’d hoped it was a friends with benefits situation that would fizzle out.

It was always something he wanted to ask about, but hadn’t exactly figured out the right way he wanted to frame it. He couldn’t help but think every time Alex had to run out that the continuing friend related emergencies didn’t bode well for them.

* * *

Typically, Alex is at ease around his friends. He always seems to be the friend that is willing to do a favor and go the extra mile. Which isn’t a bad thing or necessarily a good thing. It’s just that Forrest has noticed that it’s usually when someone needs something that they stop by. He and Alex are not quite at the point in their relationship where you start to bring that type of thing up, but Forrest feels like that needs to eventually be a conversation they have.

Max, though not a constant friend that comes up, seems to have made Alex more tense than Forrest thinks he’s ever seen him before. This is made all the more obvious when Alex’s eyes widen when he sees Forrest approach. Max turns and gives him a wider smile than the man ever has before. “Just in time,” He said. The accent was surprising - since Forrest had thought the other man had grown up in Roswell. But it was more of a southeastern accent than expected.

“Leave.” Alex stepped between Forrest and Max, as if he wanted Forrest out of Max’s sight. It was odd. But Forrest wasn’t going to pretend he knew what was going on. 

“I will be back if I don’t hear from you,” Max spoke only to Alex. He pat Alex on the cheek before leaving the backyard.

Alex’s phone was immediately out, frantically typing into his phone. A call connected shortly thereafter. “Forrest is here right now. I’ll get to you as soon as possible. Yea, okay.” Once he ended the call he moved quickly to Forrest, looking into his eyes significantly. “How do you feel?”

“What do you mean?” Any concern Forrest had before was now steadily increasing as it became more and more clear that what he’d perceived as a ‘tense Alex’ was more like a ‘terrified Alex’. While Forrest wasn’t one to immediately trust people he was only vaguely familiar with, Max had never really given him bad vibes before. 

“You weren’t supposed to come over tonight. What made you come here?” Alex asked, his hands were on Forrest now, raising his shirt, though Forrest didn’t know what he was looking for. “Do you have any strange markings on your body?” Alex continued to question him. 

Forrest swatted at this boyfriend’s hands. “What has gotten into you? Did Max threaten you? You’re acting really strange.”

Alex opened and closed his mouth, seemingly trying to decide what to say. Forrest waited patiently, understanding that some times it took Alex time to choose his words. “That was not Max. It’s more of a long lost relative situation and he’s…” Alex trailed off. “That’s to say that I think he’s very dangerous.”

“That looked exactly like Max.” Forrest frowned.

“Max doesn’t have a beard.”

“Oh, right.” Forrest tilted his head, thinking Alex’s questions over. “You think he had a friend send me here? I didn’t run into anyone who could have manipulated me or anything. And no one physically dragged me here or anything.” He gave Alex a small smile, hoping for it to lighten the mood. But Alex’s temperament didn’t seem to change. 

Alex looked away, taking a deep breath. “What was your thought process for coming here? I’m sorry, Forrest, I know it sounds crazy. But it might help.” 

Forrest continued to flounder for an answer. Alex was right, Forrest had planned to stay at home and write tonight. “I think that when I was working on editing I just kept thinking about you.” He pushed a piece of hair back on Alex’s head. “I just missed you.” He smiled. “Nothing crazy about that, is there? And maybe we could go inside and do something about that.”

Before Alex could respond there was a slam of a car door. Forrest turned and rolled his eyes. “Of course. It’s always related to Michael.”

“What?” Alex asked, his eyes darting from Michael back to Forrest. “What do you mean?”

“It’s _always_ related to Michael. Haven’t you noticed?”

“Are you okay?” Michael was out of breath when he got to them. Though he didn’t direct his question to Alex it was clear who he was talking to. 

“We’re fine, thanks for asking,” Forrest responded before Alex could. He took Alex’s hand and pulled him towards the house. “Let’s go.”

“Go where?” Alex asked. Michael followed close behind. 

Forrest huffed, not exactly sure that he had an answer. He wanted to take Alex somewhere nice, right? Probably out to dinner. Maybe to a movie. It made sense to want a change of scenery. 

“To dinner,” he decided. “I must have made a reservation and got excited to come here. That’s why I didn’t call beforehand. That makes sense.”

“Does it?” Michael asked by the sink. 

Although Forrest knew he didn’t typically get enraged by Michael’s presence, it was the best way to describe what he was feeling. The next sequence of events that happened felt more like Forrest was seeing himself grab a pan, as if it was weapon, before Michael’s outstretched hand locked him in place. 

Which was how Forrest learned that his our theory about what happened in the barn being related to Nazi’s had been debunked and it actually was, in this case, _aliens_.

* * *

It becomes abundantly clear exactly why Alex always seemed to have emergencies that needed his attention. It turns out that being friends with three aliens while also being the son of someone who captured a huge number of aliens makes emergencies a little more common place than one might expect.

In a way, all of Alex’s friends become a bit more understandable about why they are so reliant on him. He has an obvious advantage when it comes to technology and an understanding of how his family thinks. Which doesn’t even begin to cover the strategic knowledge and skills related to his service in the air force that can be utilized. Still, Forrest thinks it’s a lot to be placed on Alex’s shoulders. 

Forrest is happy to realize that he’s not the only one who think Alex takes on too much responsibility. For all that Forrest thought Michael was too reliant on Alex, he can see more clearly how Michael reminds Alex he is not like the rest of his family. Even if it’s in small ways that Forrest isn’t entirely certain Alex recognizes as rebuttal of the blame he tries to carry. However, it’s with this new ability to see Alex and Michael so clearly that it was obvious that the two of them were very careful in his presence. 

It shocks him, a little bit, to realize it took him this long to notice. It wasn’t even as thought they were being physical, or even flirty. They just had a certain connection that was obvious. Forrest doesn’t really try to needle information out of Alex to what extent his relationship with Michael was or had been, but it is something that Forrest thinks about a lot. He was close to actually bringing it up just before Alex asks him for help on a research project. Forrest easily agrees, thinking it would help them form an even closer relationship. 

Unsurprisingly, it’s just the beginning of the end. Because while it was one thing to notice a certain tension between the two of them out in town. It was a completely different thing to notice the tension between them in a bunker. Watching Alex and Michael interact, even in the very short periods of time when Michael was dropping off food or research that he and Liz had completed, was a different thing completely.  
They obviously remembered he was here, it wasn’t like they completely forgot about his existence or anything. Alex didn’t even completely shrink all contact with Forrest in front of Michael. There was a shoulder squeeze here, and nudge there. But Alex and Michael seemed to have what could only be a quarter of a conversation where something clicked in both their brains and they were able to work through a problem in the research that had been plaguing everyone for weeks. It was remarkable. And incredibly disheartening, for Forrest. 

The thing was, Forrest was hoping to be Alex’s perfect partner, in every sense of the word. And since research was kind of Forrest’s thing…this seemed like the perfect opportunity to impress his boyfriend. Yet, here he was, being upstaged by Michael. Somehow, that wasn’t even the worst type of day. The worst type of day was when Michael and Alex were fighting. If the world worked in logical ways Forrest thought that this might be a better day for feeling like his own relationship with Alex was stronger but somehow it only proved that Alex’s relationship with Michael was more of a priority. 

It was days when Alex and Forrest left after a fight in which Michael and Alex hadn’t resolved this disagreements that made the rest of evening unbearable, even after they left the bunker. Even though Alex wasn’t in any way talking about Michael (not even to vent), he was distracted. Inevitably dinners after such a day meant Alex was kind of zoned out and not attentive to Forrest’s existence in anyway. Presumably, preoccupied with the anger and frustration he felt about Michael.

For Forrest, there was never really one moment where it felt like he could point and say that was the end. It was a summation of all of the parts. It just felt abundantly clear that Alex’s happiness would always be tied up with his relationship with Michael. And as much as Forrest really liked Alex, he couldn’t see himself committing to someone who was clearly emotionally devoted to another person.

**Author's Note:**

> I am incredibly awful at responding to comments on my fics and I would like to take this space to thank everyone who read and responded to the first work in this series! I appreciate the comments, even if I am awful at responding to them!


End file.
